Mike
Rozier was a star running back at Woodrow
Wilson High School in Camden
in the late 1970s, before going on to a great college career at the
University of Nebraska. Twenty years after he left Nebraska, Mike Rozier
owns both the Nebraska all-time rushing and scoring records, yet it is
possible that he might never have gone west to Lincoln had not Nebraska
assistant Frank Solich been such a keen observer of high school game
films. Solich was studying movies of another player in Rozier's hometown
of Camden, New Jersey. "Mike kept sticking out on the film,"
Solich remembers. Rozier was a Wishbone fullback in high school, yet
still managed to gain 300 yards in a single game. He didn't miss that
mark by much against Kansas late in the season, when he rambled for 285
yards and registered four touchdowns in another monster-score win for
Nebraska. All through the year, Rozier maintained an average of nearly
eight yards every time he carried the ball. "He's a super
prospect," says Gil Brandt, Vice President of the Dallas Cowboys in
charge of player personnel, and one of the finest judges of football
talent. "He has everything it takes to be a successful pro running
back." Mike Rozier takes such praise the way he takes an opposing
defense - in stride. "God gave me this gift. I just do the best I
can to use it," he says. Rozier won the 1983 Heisman Trophy,
college football's highest award..

Mike
Rozier played for the Pittsburgh
Maulers in the USFL in 1984, and the Jacksonville Bulls in 1985 in
the same league. Rozier, was the second Heisman Trophy
winner to sign with the USFL. Rozier suffered through a tough rookie
season with the new expansion team the Pittsburgh Maulers, running for
792 yards on 223 attempts with 3 touchdowns. Mike considered leaving the
USFL following his first season in Pittsburgh, but decided to join the
Jacksonville Bulls and fellow Heisman winner Archie Griffin in vaunted
backfield. Mike excelled in his sophomore season to run 320 times for
1,361 yards and an impressive 12 touchdowns for Bulls.

The
Houston Oilers chose Mike in the supplemental draft in 1984 where he
played for seven years, during which time he was a Pro Bowl selection
twice, in 1987 and 1988. He finished his NFL career with the Atlanta
Falcons in 1991.

25 years later, prep
football game shootout resonates By
KEVIN CALLAHAN

Although
he would rise to the pinnacle of college football just four years
later by winning the Heisman Trophy, Mike
Rozier's last play
for Woodrow Wilson High School was spent looking down in the dirt on
the field that would later bear his name.

"I
never saw anything like it before - it was like cowboys and
Indians," Rozier
said while standing near the 10-yard line where he hit the ground a
quarter of a century ago.

It
was 25 years ago Monday. It was Nov. 22, 1979. It was Thanksgiving Day.

And
it was, perhaps, the most infamous moment in the history of South Jersey
scholastic sports - the moment in the third quarter of the Woodrow
Wilson-Camden football game when a shootout between rival motorcycle
gangs left nine people with bullet wounds and sparked panic among many
in the estimated crowd of 5,000 spectators.

"Most
of the shooting was right over there," Rozier
said, pointing to the northwest corner of the stadium with one hand and
holding the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the outstanding college football
player in the country, with the other. "I have pictures, you can
see gun smoke, cops have their guns out."

Camden
vs. Woodrow Wilson is regarded as one of the best rivalries in South
Jersey sports. The annual Thanksgiving Day football game traditionally
draws several thousand spectators as alumni, family and friends of both
programs gather to reminisce and watch the two teams battle for city
bragging rights.

The
teams have played every Thanksgiving Day since 1979 without incident.
This year's game will be Thursday at Camden's home field at Farnham
Park.

The
teams have played 73 times in a series that began in 1931. Camden holds
a 44-26-3 advantage.

"Camden-Wilson
was always a great game," said former Camden Athletics Director
Wally MacPherson, who was the Panthers' AD in 1979 and was at the game.
"That (shootout) didn't have anything to do with the two schools or
the teams."

Diving
on his belly

Nineteen
people were injured when a series of fights between members of the
Wheels of Soul and Ghetto Riders motorcycle gangs escalated to gunplay
at around 12:50 p.m. - midway through the third period of the football
game.

Rozier
remembers diving on his belly on the field, along with most other
players. He remembers the confusion and panic on the part of thousands
of spectators, many of whom charged across the field, away from the
commotion that was behind the home stands at the East Camden school.

He
also remembers continuing his football career - and being asked about
the shootout every step of the way. "That shooting went
nationwide," Rozier
said. "When I got to school (at the University of Nebraska), people
didn't believe me. I had a scrapbook, so I showed it to them and then
they believed me."

Memorable
game

Rozier's
cousin, Tara Dixon, who had graduated from Camden Catholic the previous
May, was on the home sidelines that day before leaving the game with a
friend.

"I
decided to walk to Mike's mom's on 27th
Street, then the shooting began," Dixon said. "It was by
the grace of God that I went to Aunt Bea's."

MacPherson
said it was the most memorable game he ever attended, even though he
admitted it was for the wrong reasons.

After
Rozier won the Heisman Trophy and was a first-round draft pick by both
the United States Football League and National Football League, Woodrow
Wilson named its home field "Mike Rozier Field."

The
1979 game was stopped with Camden leading 14-6 with 5:05 left in the
third quarter. The game was never finished.

"Sometimes
I get together with the guys and we sit back and talk about that game,
someone always brings it up," said Rozier, who lives in in the
Sicklerville section of Winslow. "I remember all the gun smoke and
me jumping on the ground and coaches trying to get me out of
there."

Gang
shootout

According
to police accounts, the motorcycle gangs arrived around halftime, each
coming from different entrances. They walked toward each other and
started fighting. Then the shots began to fill the air at 12:50 p.m.

Camden
police officers joined in the gunfire as hundreds of fans at the stadium
on 31st and Federal streets began to flee. Police estimated that as many
as 25 shots were fired.

"I
had no idea whatsoever what was going on," MacPherson said. "I
heard it, luckily I was down the other end of the field."

The
initial shots were fired between the two motorcycle gangs, according to
police. Police were uncertain why the gangs were feuding, although it
was believed the showdown erupted as a result of Ghetto Riders breaking
away from the Wheels of Soul gang but continuing to wear their
"colors."

"It
had nothing to do with either school," MacPherson said.

Injuries
and arrests

Three
Camden men were left in critical condition with bullet wounds, although
they survived. Five others, including a Camden woman and her young son,
were hit by gunfire and were hospitalized and later released.

Authorities
confiscated six handguns while 37 gang members were arrested and charged
with two counts each of aggravated assault. Seven of those arrested
suffered gunshot wounds. No police were injured.

According
to New Jersey State Police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Rehmann, the Wheels of
Soul continues to operate as a motorcycle club out of Camden.

MacPherson
said there were never any discussions to continue the game another day.
The memories linger

But
that doesn't mean there still isn't talk about the Thanksgiving Day game
between Woodrow Wilson and Camden in 1979. "We all talk about it,
all the guys I played ball with back in the day, we all talk about
it," Rozier said.

"Thanksgiving
game, everybody comes back, guys from way back in the '70s and '60s come
back for the Camden-Wilson game," Rozier
said. "Everyone gathers around, Camden High and Wilson, now we are
all buddies. Last year we had a cookout right there."

Standing
in the same spot he hit the dirt 25 years ago, Rozier pointed to the
northwest corner of the stadium. That's where the shooting began."

Camden
Courier-Post - December 13, 2007

'Regular
guy' shares experiences of his life growing up in Camden By
MATT KATZ

The
Brimm Medical Arts High School freshmen couldn't relate to the $7
million starting salary, or being on TV every Saturday or getting
inducted into not one but two halls of fame.

But
they could relate to growing up in Camden, having pride in Camden and
dealing with the line of fire in Camden.

Mike
Rozier, 46, the Camden native and star Woodrow Wilson High School
running back who won college football's top honor, the Heisman Trophy,
in 1982 -- before playing for two NFL teams during a 10-year career --
returned to the city last month to speak to the Exposures class at Brimm.

He
shared both the glory of the football high life and his personal
experiences with the pitfalls of Camden. Eleven years ago, after
retiring from the NFL, Rozier was shot four times outside a housing
development in Camden while visiting a boyhood friend.

The
friend, who was also shot, had robbed the gunman a few years earlier,
Rozier said, and Rozier got caught in the middle of the revenge
shooting. Both victims were only wounded, but Rozier's friend was killed
a few years later in another gun battle.

He
used the incident as an allegory to tell the students to figure out what
they want to do in life, and then "prepare yourself for it."

"If
some of ya'll don't get along with your parents, suck it up, find a
teacher, a neighbor that you can look up to and talk to," he said.

The
Exposures class at Brimm is intended to expose students to people
involved in the community who might be able to help with character
building.

Rozier,
who now speaks to students as a full-time occupation, talked about
growing up in East Camden and sharing a bedroom with two of his six
brothers. He also remembered how the principal at Woodrow Wilson helped
keep students in line with a paddle named Betsy.

He
acknowledged that he wasn't a good student, and he had "lots of
tutors" at the University of Nebraska, where he starred as a
running back.

Once
a household name in Camden, most of the students at Brimm didn't know
who Rozier was before the class started. So Rozier modestly filled them
in, even though he omitted certain accolades, like the fact that Woodrow
Wilson's football stadium is named Mike Rozier Field.

"I'm
from here, I still walk around here," he said. "I probably
know half your uncles and your aunts."

The
students, who had to summarize his speech for a class assignment, seemed
to understand where he was coming from.

"It
did help that he was from Camden because he knew what it's like,"
said student Lakira Williams.

At
the start of the speech, Rozier turned down an offer to use a podium.

"I
don't need a podium," he said. "I'm just a regular guy from
Camden."